Smallholder Farmers: Sufferers in Nepal
It is no wonder when I say agriculture is the prime occupation of the country. The government statistics speak that more than 65 percent of the population is directly involved in agriculture and more than 80 percent of the population is dependent on the agriculture directly and indirectly. But, with this level of dependence comes a bigger tragedy which is the least contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country which remains around 35 percent. Why does that happen? The major reasons that have been repeated several times are the segregated lands, greater dependence on natural rainfall, lack of use of any technology, lack of knowledge about modern farming techniques, etc. one reason which is very least discussed is the Smallholder farmers who carry out their farming at smaller level and seem very reluctant to switch to the commercial production of crops. There are several definitions for the smallholder farmers. One of the reports of United Nations Development Prog...